Nineteen essays, by a diverse group of historians and others who experience and study Gilbert's buildings in their professional lives, detail the intricate relationship between Gilbert's work and the longstanding tradition of public architecture in America.

This volume examines Gilbert's work in five unique categories: the building of a national practice, an evaluation of his Minnesota State Capitol as "a defining moment" in American civic architecture, his New York career, his response to civic ideals in his plans for towns and universities, and his work in the public domain.